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A number of provisions to help the unemployed are included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and here’s a list of some of the major benefits. Offerings vary greatly by state, so check with your local unemployment office to find out what exactly is available to you. Increased Unemployment Benefits The ARRA funds a new temporary Federal Additional Compensation ...

Work isn’t perfect, right? But if you are lucky enough to have a job right now it pays to remember that millions and millions of Americans don’t think you have a thing to complain about. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nation’s unemployment rate is hovering around 10%. Even more troubling, The New York Times reports that ...

In every negotiation, the time comes when the other side puts an offer on the table. At that point, the ball is in your court. Unless you want to accept that offer or walk away from the table, you have to put forth a counteroffer. You will hear all kinds of advice for doing this, and much of that advice is ...

While it's difficult to make definitive statements about what to do and what not to do in every negotiation situation, there are some potential pitfalls to be aware of before entering the negotiation process. Here are five of the most common no-nos. *Initiating Negotiations Too Soon* Timing is important here. The appropriate time to negotiate is when a formal offer has ...

We all want to look good at work, but we want to stay healthy as well. In Part II of The Perils of Beauty, Dr. Brady and Nurse Rebekah talked about white lab coats as carriers of germs. Here, they tackle your hair, hands and face. Nurse Rebekah: Our last stop on this adventure through hospital wardrobe is hair. I have ...

While African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos and American Indians together represent more than one-fourth of the US population, they comprise less than 9 percent of nurses, 6 percent of physicians and 5 percent of dentists. Although more than 16,000 new students entered medical school in 2003, only 2,179 were African American, Hispanic/Latino or American Indian. Meanwhile, by the middle of this century, the ...

It's taken a while, but these days most companies understand that employing a diverse workforce is not only the right thing to do, it's also good business. But good intentions are one thing. Actually hiring and promoting men and women with varied racial and ethnic backgrounds, religions and sexual orientations is another. Here's how companies and workers can do what they ...

"I still don't know what they said to each other," a Texas nurse told NurseWeek magazine in 1999 after enlisting a hospital house cleaner to interpret for a patient who could not speak English. Today, as immigration increases and with the nursing shortage in full swing, the demand for bilingual healthcare workers is growing. The greatest need appears to be for ...

If you're ready to take control of your health, start by washing your hands for 15 to 20 seconds, about as long as it takes to sing "Happy Birthday" twice. Doing this simple act, while avoiding certain behaviors -- smoking, excessive drinking and eating too much -- can dramatically improve your health, said internist William Meller, who specializes in evolutionary ...

When it comes to your career, do you lie to yourself? The answer is most likely ‘yes.’ In an article I read by Sam Sommers, a professor of psychology at Tufts University, he explains how and why we like to kid ourselves. He explains: “People do this all the time. We bend the facts to fit our self-image, perpetuating a ...

We clean everything we can get our hands on. While this can be great for fighting off those nasty bugs that can wreak havoc on your immune system, there really is some truth to the saying, “Too much of a good thing is bad.” Here are the top ten reasons why we get sick despite all that cleaning. Not Washing Our ...

Whether you believe the recession is getting better or there's no end in sight to this full-blown financial crisis, we can agree that managing your money has never been more important. You may have just entered the working world or you could be 50-year veteran -- either way, you want to make the most out of your paycheck. Learn how to ...

Memo to Americans: As a group, for every $1,000 we bring in after taxes, we are saving $7, according to the Commerce Department. Why bring this up? Because if you're anticipating an annual bonus this year, you should probably skip the cruise. Considering salary increases are barely keeping pace with inflation, no wonder white-collar workers are coveting those bonuses to help ...

Baseball fans love to see what a big hitter might unleash at bat. Babe Ruth, the Great Bambino, won an astounding seven World Series rings with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. He had a career slugging percentage of .690. The home-run race in 1998 between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa caught the attention of every kid with grass-stained ...

When we were younger, making friends was easy. School provides us with an instant pool of people our own age that we interact with on a daily basis, who are in the same boat we are. But once we leave nursing school and enter the real world, finding friends can be a more difficult task, especially if you have to relocate ...

Are you making as much money as you should be? If you've been pondering this question, you're not alone. A 2006 survey by staffing services company Randstad USA and Harris Interactive found that 39 percent of employees surveyed believe their salary is lower than market rates, up from 28 percent surveyed in 2005. Meanwhile, 50 percent of employers think the salaries ...

Since May 10, 2005, when a bankruptcy judge let United Airlines default on its pension plan, employees at all types of companies have started to wonder whether their retirement money is safe. The good news: It probably is. h4. Retirement Plans Explained The United case applies to traditional defined-benefit pension plans, which guarantee workers a defined monthly income after they retire. ...

After a number of years on the job, many healthcare practitioners may wonder "What's next?" If you've gone as far up the clinical career ladder as you can, a natural move is to an administrative or managerial career. Healthcare administrators do a variety of tasks, from managing specific floors to running entire health systems. With practitioner experience in your pocket, you ...

The economy is sour and we have yet to see signs of the recovery in our own lives, but there’s no need to hoard every penny you’ve got and live in fear. Why? We’ve been through bad times before. And we didn't just survive — we emerged even stronger and smarter than before. When? The Great Depression of the 1930s, ...

Feel like the dreary walls of the hospital are closing in on you? Time for a summer break! Whether it's a relaxing cruise, an exotic island getaway, or a sandy beach adventure, it's high time you got out of those scrubs and away from the dreariness of your busy working life. Worried your workload will keep you from some summer fun? ...